Arne Slot has suggested parenthood could be behind Curtis Jones’ impressive form this season, writes Sophie Marlow at the AXA Training Centre.
Jones became a father to Giselle Delilah last month and has since put in a series of eyecatching performances. Just a week after the birth, the midfielder scored the winner against Chelsea and dedicated the goal to his daughter with his celebration.
And it was his precision pass to Luis Diaz in midweek that led to the opener in the 4-0 win over Bayern Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Jones’ upturn in form has not been lost on Slot who pointed to the personal milestone rather than any changes he has made to the team.
Said Slot: “Maybe it’s not me who did it, because he became a father and I had nothing to do with that.
“You never know if that plays a part or not, but it is since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in.”
Jones was called into interim England manager Lee Carlsey’s final squad this week and now appears to be moving ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai for a place in Slot’s starting XI. The Liverpool manager is happy that competition for places is seeing individual levels raised through the squad.
He said: “Every player that comes in has a good performance, and that probably tells you a lot about the quality of the team.
“How they play together. Then, as a result of that, individual performances are good as well.”
Liverpool will look to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven matches when they host Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday. The league leaders have been in strong form but Villa, who have only one win in their last five league games, will be eager to turn their fortunes around and get back to winning ways.
Despite their recent poor form, Slot acknowledged the threat posed by Unai Emery’s side who boast great depth and have numerous tactical options.
He said: “If you ask me now, do you expect Unai to change a lot? I would not expect that, because he never did this, not if he played City, and also not when he played Liverpool in the past few years.
“But in terms of personnel, he can change a bit. He has different options in the full back, different option in the wings. But it’s always been a 4-4-2, and that he’s been playing for many years now.”
Slot provided an update on Diogo Jota, who has been sidelined since sustaining an injury during the Reds’ 2-1 win over Chelsea, following a collision with Tosin Adarabioyo.
While reiterating the need for privacy concerning injury details, Slot confirmed: “The first weeks after the international break, we expect him back.”
Diogo Jota is expected to return from injury soon after the November international break 🗓️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 8, 2024
Contracts continue to be a talking point with Trent Alexander Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s expiring next June. However, the Liverpool boss was not open to discussing the matter.
“I think in general contract situations are talked about by the people who should talk about it. I’m one of them, but I should not talk about this in public,” he said.
Liverpool v Aston Villa kicks off at 8pm on Saturday (November 9).
